Female Inmates Beg State Lawmakers for Better Health Care

Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, October 12, 2000

2000-10-12 04:00:00 PDT Chowchilla, Madera County -- With tales of medical neglect, shoddy treatment and sexual abuse, inmates from two of California's largest women's prisons pleaded yesterday with state lawmakers for an overhaul of the Department of Corrections health care system.

In a highly unusual hearing within the walls of Valley State Prison for Women, state Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, presided over a seven-hour session that included graphic and disturbing testimony from a dozen women.

They painted a picture of a prison medical system that often ignored their efforts to get health care, or provided substandard care when they received it.

Charisse Shumate, who is serving 15 years to life for murder and is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, told the panel she lost sight in one eye because of delays in treatment for a sickle-cell anemia-related disorder. Her detached retina was treated by surgeons five days after she reported the problem -- too late, she said, to save her vision.

The hearing comes as the Department of Corrections is attempting to track down and retest female inmates who had previous blood work or Pap smears performed by B.C.L. Clinical Labs. The laboratory was shut down four years ago after state investigators found evidence it had been faking results on test for AIDS, hepatitis, cancer and other serious diseases.

Marcia Bunney, incarcerated for 18 years, told lawmakers how she learned only recently that the results of a Pap smear test she had taken four years earlier could no longer be trusted.

"The first contact I had was when they gave me a form saying the results of the test needed a follow- up," she said. "Four years is a little late to follow up."

The most explosive testimony was delivered by inmate Debra Jones, who said she was taking the opportunity afforded by the rare public forum to warn lawmakers of widespread sexual abuse at the state women's prisons, alleging that inmates are victimized by their guards.

"They cuss us out. They call us bitches. They prey on us. You've got nuts working over us," she said.

Jones said that in 1989, she was raped by a prison staffer who watched over the women during church services. Afterthe hearing, Department of Corrections ombudsman Lucy Armendariz said Jones' allegations already have been investigated and that her assailant was prosecuted.

Dr. Susann Steinberg, deputy director of the health care services division, defended her department. She indicated that many of the women testifying yesterday were not telling the truth.

"I find myself in an awkward situation," she said. "I'm put in a position of saying the things we heard today are not accurate, but I don't want to do that. These women have been victims most of their lives. They have been in a tug-of-war, and I don't want to be tugging on the other side."

During the hearing, Polanco repeatedly warned that he would not tolerate intimidation or reprisals by prison staff against the 12 women who testified.

Dr. Corey Weinstein, a San Francisco-based consultant to prison rights groups, told lawmakers they should put an end to a system that trains prison guards as health care workers.